In your article on rearing clown fish, the method of catching the fry, i followed to a T....... however after 2 or 3 hours i only managed to catch an estimated 15 or 18 of the fry, i would guess there was easy 100 eggs.... thats a dismal success rate for me......

any tricks you can give me like type of torch?
can i use a brine shrimp net to catch the fry or would the net damage the fry?
any thoughts would be hugely welcomed !!

rgds

Neil

The more you know, the more you know, you don't know........ in life and marines

AdSGuest

after 2 or 3 hours i only managed to catch an estimated 15 or 18 of the fry,

Click to expand...

That does not sound right - you should have caught at least 50% of them within 10 minutes...

Just to recap:

Ensure that all water flow is stopped before they hatch, and that room and tank are in total darkness

Shine a bright light from either above the tank to the area where the eggs were before hatching, or if you're a bit late, and they have dispersed through the tank, shine it through the side pane, just below the water surface - keep the light stationary. (I used a large Maglite torch, which my wife held for me...)

The babies should swim towards the surface, and towards the light, congregating in a school close to where the light beam enters the water.

Use a glass or plastic bowl or jug to scoop them up from below - move the container very slowly, to prevent a wave caused by the movement from dispersing them.

can i use a brine shrimp net to catch the fry or would the net damage the fry?

Click to expand...

You could probably use it to "herd" the babies towards the container, if necessary, buy I'm afraid that it could injure some of them. Removing the babies from the water in the net would not be a good idea.

any thoughts would be hugely welcomed

Click to expand...

There is one other trick you can try, if you become desperate - use a large-diameter flexible pipe (tube) and just siphon them out into a large bucket which is held slightly lower than the tank. Make sure that you first siphon a few litres of water without any fry, just to fill the container somewhat, and then ensure that the discharge end of the pipe remains under that water surface while you "transfer" the babies. Regulate the water speed by lifting the bucket until the water flows very slowly into the bucket.